flourishing, the Hindu gods look after worldly affairs but Buddha after the soul.  When the island passed under British rule and all religions received impartial recognition, the result was not disastrous to Buddhism:  the number of Bhikkhus greatly increased, especially in the latter half of the nineteenth century.  And if in earlier periods there was an interval in which technically speaking the Sangha did not exist, this did not mean that interest in it ceased, for as soon as the kingdom became prosperous the first care of the kings was to set the Church in order.  This zeal can be attributed to nothing but conviction and affection, for Buddhism is not a faith politically useful to an energetic and warlike prince.

5

Sinhalese Buddhism is often styled primitive or original and it may fairly be said to preserve in substance both the doctrine and practice inculcated in the earliest Pali literature.  In calling this primitive we must remember the possibility that some of this literature was elaborated in Ceylon itself.  But, putting the text of the Pitakas aside, it would seem that the early Sinhalese Buddhism was the same as that of Asoka, and that it never underwent any important change.  It is true that mediaeval Sinhalese literature is full of supernatural legends respecting the Buddha,[101] but still he does not become a god (for he has attained Nirvana) and the great Bodhisattvas, Avalokita and Manjusri, are practically unknown.  The Abhidhammattha-sangaha,[102] which is still the text-book most in use among the Bhikkhus, adheres rigidly to the methods of the Abhidhamma.[103] It contains neither devotional nor magical matter but prescribes a course of austere mental training, based on psychological analysis and culminating in the rapture of meditation.  Such studies and exercises are beyond the capacity of the majority, but no other road to salvation is officially sanctioned for the Bhikkhu.  It is admitted that there are no Arhats now—­just as Christianity has no contemporary saints—­but no other ideal, such as the Boddhisattva of the Mahayanists, is held up for imitation.

Mediaeval images of Avalokita and of goddesses have however been found in Ceylon.[104] This is hardly surprising for the island was on the main road to China, Java, and Camboja[105] and Mahayanist teachers and pilgrims must have continually passed through it.  The Chinese biographies of that eminent tantrist, Amogha, say that he went to Ceylon in 741 and elaborated his system there before returning to China.  It is said that in 1408 the Chinese being angry at the ill-treatment of envoys whom they had sent to the shrine of the tooth, conquered Ceylon and made it pay tribute for fifty years.  By conquest no doubt is meant merely a military success and not occupation, but the whole story implies possibilities of acquaintance with Chinese Buddhism.